Gophers coach Jerry Kill misses second half of loss to Michigan State after having another seizure

Minnesota coach Jerry Kill walks the sideline during the first half of Saturday's game against Michigan State. Kill had a seizure at the end of halftime and did not return to the field for the second half. (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

Twice before, Jerry Kill had a seizure on game day, once in the postgame locker room and once during the game itself. So when it happened again Saturday, Nov. 24, at halftime of a 26-10 loss to Michigan State, there was an odd sense of routine surrounding it.

"I've done it before," defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys said of acting as head coach in Kill's absence. "You just move on."

Kill was resting in the coaches' locker room after the game and left the stadium with his wife, Rebecca. He was expected to be sent home without a trip to the hospital, where he ended up after suffering his last two game-day seizures, first on Sept. 10, 2011, at the end of a loss to New Mexico State and last month after a homecoming loss to Northwestern.

Kill has epilepsy, and he has described his seizures as something he can live with. So can Minnesota, athletics director Norwood Teague said.

"I know this will bring up questions about him and moving forward, but we have 100 percent confidence in Jerry," Teague said in a postgame news conference. "We'll evaluate his health at the end of the year, and that mainly is for him, to continue to take care of himself, exercise, diet, eating right.

"The more he makes progress there, the more he'll make progress with his health in general. I feel very good about that."

Teague said Kill suffered a seizure while returning to the TCF Bank Stadium field following halftime.

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With the Gophers trailing 16-7, Claeys took the reins while Kill was treated inside. Many of Kill's players didn't realize he wasn't on the field until well into the second half.

"I kind of put two and two together when our defensive backs coach started breaking us down and giving us our pep talk," quarterback MarQueis Gray said.

Kill's absence, Gray said, had nothing to do with the Gophers' second half, when the Spartans (6-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) broke open a tight game to become the seventh bowl-eligible conference team, and likely leapfrog Minnesota (6-6, 2-6) for a berth in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on Dec. 29 in Tempe, Ariz.

Minnesota's offense was manhandled by a Spartans defense that came into the game ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten in scoring and total defense, managing only Jordan Wettstein's 48-yard field goal and 96 total yards -- 4 rushing. Michigan State tailback Le'Veon Bell ran 35 times for 266 yards and had five carries of more than 10 yards, including 40- and 30-yarders.

That, said Gray, had nothing to do with Kill's absence.

"The coach's job is to coach," the senior said. "The players are the ones who are supposed to go to war for four downs and execute the game plan. We didn't do that."

Still, Kill's health was the major topic following the game, and likely will be until the Gophers play their bowl game late next month, most likely the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 28 in Houston.

Kill has now coached 24 games at Minnesota and suffered seizures during or after three. While Kill, his school and his players have learned to live with his health issues -- most of his staff have been with him since he was head coach at Emporia State in 1999-2000 -- some wonder if, or when, it will become a negative.

"It doesn't really concern me that much," Teague said. "I live with these (coaches) every day internally, and that's the biggest thing for me -- watching them every day and how they operate. In my experience with coaches and coaching staffs, if they're winning the battles every day in how they manage the program, the fruit is shown on the field. Regardless of Jerry's health right now, we're making progress on this program.

"Does it hurt the perception in recruiting? I don't think so. I've seen Jerry talk to recruits about it, and it's something millions of people deal with. We all have friends and family that have probably dealt with it. So at first blush, yeah, but once you really start thinking about it and we move forward and we work, and he works, it doesn't really bother me at all."

Kill returned to coach the team after his Oct. 13 seizure following a loss to Northwestern, and Teague said he expects him back Monday and has no doubt he'll coach in the bowl game.

"You don't want to downplay it, but you get to the point where you realize it's just something he has to deal with at times," the AD said. "You don't want to say it's not a big deal, but in a way, it's easy to deal with in a lot of ways."

Kill signed a seven-year contract on Oct. 23 that will pay him at least $1.2 million annually through 2017. He has a 9-15 record with the Gophers.